ericbj

Ukraine's complex history is relevant to emotions which contribute to present-day problems: Donbass 1941: How a mining region broke the back of the blitzkrieg Ukrainian Collaboration with Germany in World War II (1941 – 1945) Ukraine's Nazi Problem

In the earlier minutes are a few of the missing details referred to in my previous post:

Either your memory is short-lived or you have only recently been following events in the Ukraine. I have been following them since Yanukovych's time. One needs to nave been studying them at least that long, and ideally further back to the overall situation in Eastern Europe, to have some understanding of what is happening today in the Ukraine. It is not easy for a newcomer to discover what happened between 2014 and 2022, because numerous details of events in the Ukraine, published by western media sources over that period, have latterly disappeared from the web. Shoved down the Memory Hole Presumably to support the NATO narrative. We live in an era of wartime propaganda intended to incite feelings of righteous violence. Of good versus evil. It is sometimes necessary to look in the mirror to see ourselves as we really are.

You may prefer to listen to Colonel MacGregor, C.O. of an armoured unit during the Gulf War :

For privacy reasons I use DuckDuckGo, but if it fails to find what I seek I use Google. My commonly used browser, Firefox, prevents Google from tracking me. But note that Google's search algorithms can give biassed results in certain areas, including one that is of interest to me. See here: https://www.nutraceuticalsworld.com/google-radically-restricts-the-flow-of-information-on-alternative-healthcare/

Let each and everyone judge for themselves, But tell me, are you a W.E.F. Deep State propagandist ? Or just google-eyed from watching too much of the stuff they put out ?

ODESSA ABOUT TO COLLAPSE — Ukraine’s Last Breath, NATO Frozen | Prof. Jeffrey Sachs

The leaders of the main European nations and the E.U. officials in Brussels are a bunch of nincompoops. That should be self-evident. Having been led up the garden path by the U.S., they are now doubling down on their mistakes. The sooner they are ousted the better.

The videos to which I offer links are not produced by myslf and therefore I am unable to provide them in the lengths required by those with limited time or patience (2 minutes?, 5 minutes?, or what?). They are documents for those sufficiently motivated to study the subject. And only a mouse-click away. If a book is referred to as source material, there is the possibility, but not the likelihood, of someone procuring the book in order to read it. If you go to, say, Wikipedia (useful, but these days unreliable on certain subjects) you will commonly find a plethora of references in the foot-notes. I doubt many people will check them out. You seem to be unaware that Putin, in the early days of the S.M.O., stated he had no objection to the Ukraine joining the E.U.. But that was before von der Leyen began converting the E.U. from an economic union of nation states retaining some degree of sovereignty into an aggressive military alliance controlled by unelected officials. A sort of N.A.T.O. without the U.S. [Ursula von der Leyen upholds the tradition of her husband's family who owned the first factory in Germany known (thanks to journalist Karl Marx) to have experienced a workers' strike; owing to the appalling treatment of the workers] As regards Russia retaining the Black Sea coastline as far as Transnistria, that is mere supposition upon my part. It could be a bargaining-chip in negotiations (like Dien Bien Phu for the Viet Minh). Opinions from elsewhere: RUSSIA MOVES SOUTH — Odessa Could Fall Overnight | Alex Krainer THE FALL OF ODESA: The End of Ukraine and the Death of US Hegemony | Yanis Varoufakis

As an addendum to my previous posts : The Financial Story Behind The Vietnam War

(unavailable in Thailand: OK via VPN with US IP#)

The trend is now to cut social spending to spend more on armaments. Weapons ultimately get used, to prove the need for them; and used up, so they need to be replaced. Instead of creating peace we now must fight for it. For the greater glory of the military-industrial complex.

The video answers your question.

Crypto is more transparent to law enforcement than many imagine, unless you are using Monero :

A long and complex talk covering how Bitcoin, intended to offer independence from a financial system designed to fail, and to lead to neo-feudalism, is being taken control of by a "Financial-Industrial Complex" which syphons up the wealth of ordinary citizens, most notably at each successive economic crisis. Wealth does not disappear. It changes hands. We are entering a crisis now, as witnessed by the depreciation in the value of fiat currencies against precious metals. The interviewee, who held Bitcoin when valued at 3 USD, ends on a partially positive note with advice on how to resist the threat of a hostile take-over disguised in sheep's clothing. For those who have not exposed themselves over the past few years to some of the scandals mentioned, or at least their darker hidden aspects, this will sound like pure "conspiracy theory". But for those who have already troubled themselves sufficiently to glimpse into the shadows, this may help to give some coherence to otherwise disjointed 'news' … to "connect the dots".

What Do Ukraine Talks Reveal About Putin's Intentions? Answer: Russia's intentions remain essentially unchanged. Namely, as per Minsk-2, autonomy within the Ukraine of the majority ethnic Russian oblasts (guaranteeing freedom of language and worship, and freedom from the extra-judicial killings perpetrated post-Maidan Coup). The intention was subsequently extended to incorporate the four eastern-most oblasts into the Russian Federation, in accordance with the desires of the majority of their inhabitants. Plus, as an assurance of future peace, the establishment of neutral status of the rump Ukrainian state, something along the lines of what formerly existed in Austria and Finland; and criminalising of militaristic neo-nazi movements such as Azov (perhaps not to be tolerated in western Europe even in these revisionist days). Not wholly surprising (in view of Russia's ongoing gains in the field and recent developments in the Black Sea) would be if Russia decided to retain Southern Ukraine for security reasons. Which would be a crippling blow for the Ukrainian rump state. Taking Odessa could be seen as payback for the video-documented massacre - ignored in western media - that took place there eleven years ago. There were others, notably in Mariupol. The Ukrainians deserve a better leader than Zelenski and his entourage. They are in the pay of western financial interests which previously insisted on dumping opportunities for a negotiated peace. More than 70% of the Ukrainian electoral vote went to Zelenski, i.e. crossing the ethnic divide, but he turned out to be something very different to what he presented himself as. The Ukraine war has been part of the ongoing war-mongering needed to keep feeding the U.S. 'defence' industry and now, nearing financially-successful conclusion, another war must be created. However, Europe, with a failing economy and concomitant social unrest, seems ready to take up the challenge, with its rapidly expanding armaments industry; by spreading fear of an imminent Russian invasion. Europe lacks the global scope of the U.S. and so must identify an enemy in its own backyard. Heaven help ordinary citizens if they are so blind as to allow this to continue. For they pay the price, as usual.

This is supportive of contentions in my above comment:

Maduro a drug trafficker? Why did Trump free one of the world's worst drug traffickers?

What he does is also of consequence. Official U.S. (and NATO) posturing has long claimed to support and promote democracy and human rights while simultaneously doing the opposite. They actually prefer dealing with dictators rather than politicians democratically elected by popular vote. Because, as a former senior C.I.A. operative has remarked, authoritarian rulers are, in return for favours, generally more pliable, reliable and easier to deal with. This has obliged major western powers to maintain a hypocritical stance, which can sometimes benefit those struggling for the values the West claims to represent. Because a narrative is needed that has some semblance of credibility when repetitively presented by officialdom itself and by fawning media outlets. Team-Trump has thrown aside much hypocritical pretence. Or rather replaced it with much cruder hypocrisy which deceives only the most blinkered. E.g. claiming the right to invade a sovereign nation on grounds of suppressing narcotics trade rather than for politico-economic reasons. In Trump's favour is that he perceives many acute problems facing his country (and by extension the world) which his predecessors and many of his contemporaries either fail to see or ignore. He is as a-moral as most politicians, is in too much of a hurry, sees things in black-and-white, seeks to insult and humiliate others rather than find common ground, and his word is not his bond. Trump's excessive disruption may yet end up accelerating the onset of the severe economic collapse, and subsequent social breakdown, that has been building up over past decades. We could be in for a hard landing. Is he sowing obstacles in his own path? Trump's opposite numbers play chess and study Sun Tzu.

"U.S. decision to invade Venezuela has already been taken." Detailed arguments for this statement are provided here: US' Secret Strategy To Invade Venezuela: Years in Planning! It covers many aspects of the current confrontation. Including how the declaration of a No-Fly Zone over Venezuela, although lacking legal validity, has caused insurers to raise premiums sky-high, making flights there by commercial airlines totally unprofitable.

Yes, there are rare earths in Kachinland, currently exploited by China causing gross environmental pollution. And Trump has already expressed interest in them (as also India). Moreover Burma (Myanmar if you prefer it) is rich in many natural resources: yellow cake [uranium], copper, rubies, gas and oil, unexploited deposits of gold, and, if still in production, the colonial-era tungsten mines at Mawchi. Plus of course tropical hardwoods (although I guess the colonial teak forests are probably no longer managed these days but merely cut down for a quick buck).

Trump seeks control of the world's largest oil reserves. Venezuela's. But surely the U.S. is today one of the world's largest oil producers ? Yes, light sweet crude. U.S. refineries cannot produce diesel with light sweet crude. They need heavy sour crude. Such as that from Venezuela. Currently Venezuela, whose crude output has been crippled by years of sanctions, manages to sell oil to China and India, in return for yuan and Bitcoin. The petrodollar era, which began in 1973 and guaranteed the exclusive use of US dollars for crude oil purchases, has ended. This recreates instability for the dollar such as existed after Nixon's 1971 "temporary" renunciation of the currency's gold backing. Which had been assured by the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944. Trump seeks a vassal state that can supply heavy sour crude in return for dollars that are "printed into existence" out of thin air. This could kill two birds with one stone, just as the petrodollar agreement did half a century ago. Undoubtedly this might be a temporary answer to an impending economic crisis that risks toppling the Trump administration. But the undiplomatic relations, that have existed for years with no sign of improvement, will not have put most Venezuelans in a very receptive frame of mind. Moreover America' current difficulties may in part be attributed to past decades when imports have been paid for with Ponzi currency. So questions arise as to whether continuing the scam will end well. It may just be a case of kicking the can down the road.

Venezuela Puts Pressure Where It Hurts — And Trump’s Circle Is In Meltdown

I feel under no obligation to respond to repetitive nonsense, beyond saying that if the U.S. Government has evidence to prove what they say they should produce it. When someone accused of murder explains his reasons it does not exonerate him of the charge; unless he can show it was either an accident or an essential act of self-defence. Neither applies in this case.

There is no convincing the simple-minded who have an unshakeable faith in Big-Daddy government. They are the greatest threat to democracy and human rights. If you were told that of fourteen CIA members chosen for training in torture techniques only one of them refused, on moral grounds, such a statement would be complete anathema to you. You would doubtlessly reject out of hand the source, John Kiriakou, as a traitor, despite all evidence of his service to the U.S. If the U.S. Navy blew up every boat which passed that would undermine the official narrative. There are clear issues here: 1. Illegal actions; and 2. Lack of evidence to support the supposed reason for the illegal killings of unidentified persons on the high seas.